Container with pop-up spout



1968 D. 1.. SMITH CONTAINER WITH POP-UP SPOUT Filed March 9, 1966 F18. 7 INVENTOR DANIEL L. SMITH ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,397,820 CONTAINER WITH POP-UP SPOUT Daniel L. Smith, Fort Myers, Fla, assignor to Daniel L. Smith, trustee, Fort Myers, Fla. Filed Mar. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 532,999 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-83) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container for fluent material comprising a can having an end wall which is alternatively convex and concave and movable, with a snap-action, from its convex condition to its concave condition when pressure is applied thereto. A spout member is drivingly engaged with the movable end wall and adapted to pierce the opposite end wall when the movable end wall is moved from its convex condition to its concave condition.

The present invention concerns disposable, sealed containers for fluent materials, and particularly such a container embodying a novel device for opening the container.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a disposable, sealed container which is opened by the movement of an internal spout member to puncture a wall of the container and thereafter to provide a passage for discharging the container material. Another object is to provide such a container which is more sanitary and more convenient to open and use than conventional containers. A further object is to provide such a container which may be manufactured easily and inexpensively.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not exceeded.

FIG. '1 is a side view of a sealed container according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view in cross section of the container of FIG. 2, but in an opened condition, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows in cross section a modification of the spout member of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a further modification of the spout member;

FIG. 6 shows the container of FIG. '3 with an alternate positioning means for the spout member; and

FIG. 7 shows the container of FIG. 3 with another form of positioning means for the spout member.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a sealed can or container for a fluent material such as a liquid, a gas, or a flowable mass of discrete particles. The can 10 consists of a side wall 11, a first end wall 12 and a second end wall 13. The second end wall 13 assumes a convex shape, as seen from the exterior of the container, when the can 10 is in its sealed condition; it is made of a material which can be flexed, as will hereinafter be described.

An elongated spout member, indicated generally by 14, is sealed inside the can 10 when it is assembled. The spout member 14 has a rod-shaped body portion 15, a flattened base 16 at one end and a cutting edge 17 at its other end. The length of the spout member 14 is such that the cutting edge 17 touches or almost touches the end wall 12 when the base 16 rests upon the downwardly-convex end Wall 13. Thus, when the end wall 13 is upwardly flexed by hand pressure or by a blow on a hard surface, it will snap to the condition illustrated in FIGS. 3, 6 and 7 and the cut- 3,397,820 Patented Aug. 20, 1968 ting edge 17 punctures the end wall 12, as is shown in FIG. 3.

One form of cutting edge 17 is shown in FIG. 3. In this version, the upper surface 18 of the spout member 14 forms a plane at an angle to the axis of the spout member 14. As the end wall 13 is flexed toward its upward position, the tip 19 will puncture the end wall 12; further flexure of the end wall 13 will cause the edge 20 to punch a slot or to roll back a tab 21 from the end wall 12. Another form of cutting edge 17 is shown in FIG. 5. Here, the upper portion of the spout member 14' is formed in a substantially conical shape 22, whose edge 23 begins the puncture of the end wall 12. In most applications, it is not necessary that the cutting edge 17 be extremely sharp, since it operates more as a chisel or punch than as a knife.

To permit the flow of the contents of the container through the punctured end wall 12, the body 15 of the spout member 14 is provided with a longitudinally-extending passage 24 located such that it extends partially above and partially below the end Wall 12 When the spout member 14 is in its opened position. To this end, the spout member 14 may be made in a tubular shape, the interior 25 of the tube opening through the upper surface 18. A lateral hole 26 provided in the wall 27 communicates between the interior 25 of the spout member 14 and the interior of the can 10 when the container is in its opened state.

The above embodiment of the spout member 14 may be provided with a wick 28, as shown in FIG. 4. The wick 28, made of cotton fiber or other suitable material, is threaded through the lateral hole 26 and thence upwardly in the interior region 25 of the spout member 14. If the can 10 is filled with a flammable liquid, this form of the invention may be used as a self-contained, disposable torch, lamp, heater, or the like.

An alternate form of passage 24' is illustrated in FIG. 5. A hole 29 extends longitudinally from the cutting edge 23 to a transverse hole 30, which in turn communicates with the interior of the can 10. If the hole 29 is of a small diameter and the material contained in the can 10 is under pressure, this form of the invention may be used as an aerosol spray. Possible applications include a disposable fire extinguisher, insect repellant, or the like.

In order to accomplish its intended purpose, the spout member 14 must be positioned within the can 10 so that the axis of the spout member remains substantially aligned with the axis of the can. A simple and practical method of attaining this objective is to fix the base 16 of the spout member 14 to the end wall 13 by welding, brazing, soldering, or an adhesive 31, as shown in FIG. 3. If, in some embodiment of the container, this method should prove insufficient to maintain proper alignment of the upper end 17 of the spout member, positioning means, indicated generally by 32, may be provided on the spout member 14. The positioning means of FIG. 6 comprises three equiangularly spaced guide arms 33 which extend laterally from a lower portion of the body 15 of the spout member and whose ends 34 slidingly engage the side wall 11 of the can 10. Since the arms 33 serve merely to position the spout member 14, they may be made relatively thin and light in weight. FIG. 7 illustrates a positioning means 32 in the shape of a collar 35 carried by an upper portion of the body 15. When the collar 35 is located on the body 15 so that it fits snugly against the interior surface of the end wall 12 after the container has been opened, the collar 35 becomes a seal to prevent leakage of the contents of the can 10 around the outside surface of the spout member 14. Prevention of such leakage is important particularly when the invention is to be used as an aerosol spray.

It will be noted, of course, that any of the positioning means described may be used in conjunction with any of the various forms of spout member; the choice between them will depend upon the particular application of the container and upon the materials and dimensions of the can 10 and the spout member 14. The can 10 may be manufactured in a conventional manner. Although the end Wall 12 is easily puncturable if made of aluminum or thin steel, the end wall 12 could be scored to provide an even easier opening. The spout member 14 may be made of metal or hard plastic. The positioning means 32 may of course be formed as an integral part of the spout member 14.

I claim as my invention:

1. A disposable container for a fluent material comprising a sealed can having a first end wall, a second end wall and a generally cylindrical side wall, said second end wall being alternatively convex and concave and movable, with a snap-action, from a stable convex condition to a stable concave condition when a predetermined external pressure is applied thereto while it is in said convex condition, an elongated spout member disposed inside said can and substantially parallel with said side Wall, said elongated spout member having one end drivingly engaged with said second end wall so as to be movable therewith and its opposite end disposed in close juxtaposition to said first end Wall when said second end Wall is in said convex condition, said opposite end having a cutting edge adapted to pierce said first end wall and to be fixedly disposed in a position outside said container when said second end wall is moved from said convex condition to said stable concave condition, and said spout member being further provided with a passage communicating between the interior of said can and the exterior thereof after such piercing.

2. The container of claim 1 in which said passage carries a Wick for discharging the contents of said can by capillary action.

3. The container of claim 1 in which said spout member carries positioning means operative to restrain said spout member against transaxial movement relative to said can, said positioning means comprising a plurality of laterallyextendng guide arms slidably engaging said side Wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,063,525 12/1936 Schickel 22283 2,301,718 11/1942 --Thorne 22280 1,238,630 8/1917 Brassard 222213 1,505,442 8/1924 Stephens 222213 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,143,900 10/1957 France.

23,989 4/1906 Austria.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

N. L. STACK, Assistant Examiner. 

